ISBN:
0801437970
,
0801486734
,
1501717979
,
9780801437977
,
9780801486739
,
9781501717970
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource (xii, 229 pages)
,
illustrations, maps
Edition:
Online-Ausg.
Parallel Title:
Print version Smith, Jennie Marcelle When the hands are many
Keywords:
Peasants Political activity
;
Peasants Societies, etc
;
Community organization
;
Social values
;
Folk songs, French Creole Social aspects
;
Folk songs, Creole Social aspects
;
Paysannerie - Activité politique - Haïti - Grand'Anse (Département)
;
Paysannerie - Haïti - Grand'Anse (Département) - Associations
;
Organisation communautaire - Haïti - Grand'Anse (Département)
;
Valeurs sociales - Haïti - Grand'Anse (Département)
;
Chansons folkloriques créoles - Aspect social - Haïti - Grand'Anse (Département)
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE - General
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE - Anthropology - Cultural
;
Community organization
;
Peasants - Political activity
;
Peasants - Societies, etc
;
Social values
;
Haiti - Grand'Anse (Department)
;
Chante pwen
Abstract:
In an ethnography that challenges standard approaches to understanding the poor and disempowered, Jennie M. Smith's descriptions of peasant activity change what constitutes a democratic society. Through their civil institutions and artistic expression, Haitian peasants, widely known as some of the world's most impoverished, politically disempowered, and illiterate citizens, debate the meanings of development, democracy, and the public good. Smith offers a historically grounded overview of how the Haitian state and certain foreign powers have sought to develop rural Haiti and relates how Haitian peasants have responded to such efforts through words and deeds. The author argues that songs called chante pwen serve as "melodic machetes," a tool with which the peasants make their voices heard in many social circumstances. When the Hands Are Many illustrates the philosophies, styles, and structures typical of social organization in rural Haiti with narrative portraits of peasant organizations engaged in agricultural work parties, business meetings, religious ceremonies, social service projects, song sessions, and other activities. Smith integrates these organizations' strengths into a new vision for social change and asks what must happen in Haiti and elsewhere to facilitate positive transformation in the world today
Description / Table of Contents:
1. Introduction. "Americans Don't Have Democracy!" Background and Approach. The Haitian "Peasantry" Bamon and Tisous. Linguistic Issues -- 2. Persistent Legacies. Predatory Parasitism. Interventions from "Across the Water" Risking Hope. New Legacies. Persistent Dissidence -- 3. Melodic Machetes. Rural Footpaths. Sociopolitical Poetics. Agricultural Work Parties. Mardi Gras and Rara Festivities. Gwoupman Peyizan Meetings. A Refugee Camp. Recording Studios. Reflections on the Chante Pwen-s -- 4. Hoes Striking in Unison: Cooperative Labor and Community Spirit. Taking Up the Hoe. Yonn Ede Lot. Sharing Labor and Resources as a Way of Life. Collective Agricultural Labor. "The Strike of a Solitary Hoe Makes No Music" The Konbit and the Kove.
Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-223) and index
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